Thunder Storm
by thecontrastingreapers
Summary: Ronald Knox has a rather unexpected phobia. Upon finding this out, one of the offices at the dispatch decides to 'have some fun' with it. sort of Crack fic (T for some language) (Pairing: William x Ronald)
1. Chapter 1 - Ronald

I laughed again, cutting off suddenly at a low rumble in the distance.  
"Ronnie? Are you quite alright?" William asked, looking at me with a concerned expression.  
"Huh? Uh, yeah, I'm fine" I insisted, forcing a smile.  
Another low rumble sounded and I tensed, starting to feel nervous. "D-did you hear that?"  
"Hm? Oh, yes. It sounds like the bin men"  
I stood up and went over to the window, breathing out a sigh of relief when I saw the bin men's lorry.  
"You were right. Whoops" I flopped back down next to him on the sofa.  
"I'm always right" he said, pulling me close and switching on the telly. "Allow me to check the news"  
I rested my head against his chest, bearing with it.

I got bored and stood up, going out into the kitchen and starting on a macaroni cheese.  
"Seems we'll be getting a storm tonight"  
I poked my head round the door. "A storm?"  
William nodded. "Quite a bad one by the sounds of it"  
I returned to the cooking, trying not to think about that.  
"Will?" I called. "Are you staying tonight?"  
"If I am allowed"  
"You're allowed"

Will always had a way of making me feel so much safer. He was staying again, which I was glad of, yet nervous at the same time. We sat together to eat and before long, it was dark outside. That was when I sensed it starting. I stood up, starting for the living room door.  
"Are you alright, Ronald?"  
"Yeah, I just, I'm gonna-" There was a loud crash of thunder and I squeaked, rushing to my room and burrowing down under the covers, trying to block it out.


	2. Chapter 2 - William

I followed Ronald upstairs. The storm had started properly now, the rain pouring down along with it. Ronald was huddled down under the quilt, fully hidden. He squeaked as I pulled the covers from him.  
"I hardly think it is time for bed"  
He looked up at me, flinching violently at another crash of thunder. I sat beside him.  
"C-can you get my headphones out of the top drawer?"  
I reached into the drawer and found them, only to find the wire snapped. Ronald looked worried.  
"Do you have any earphones, by any chance?"  
He shook his head, suddenly diving under the covers as the storm continued. I sighed, taking hold of him and pulling him close.  
"Ronald" I said gently. "You're scared of thunder, aren't you?"  
He looked at me, a little shriek answering my obvious question.  
"Oh Ronnie. You should have told me"  
"I thought you'd laugh at me…"  
He cuddled against me, trembling.  
"You're shaking like a leaf"  
The storm outside grew violent, and Ronnie squeaked and whimpered against my chest, his tears soaking through my shirt as he started to cry.  
"I never imagined you would be so terrified. Of all people…!"


	3. Chapter 3 - Ronald

William pulled the quilt round us, pressing it against my ear to try to muffle the sound of the thunder. It helped a little bit but I could still hear the thunder through the quilt and the sound of the blood rushing in my head. I felt like a baby, being cradled in William's arms.  
After a while, William suggested we go downstairs. He carried me and turned on the telly. The signal was down and I burrowed down under the sofa cushions, flinching from the thunder. I felt hot and sick. Usually I coped with storms by putting my headphones on and drowning out the sound of the thunder with loud music. I couldn't for the life of me think how they'd broken. I could still hear the thunder with the cushions pressed over my ears, and I couldn't help crying in terror.


	4. Chapter 4 - William

I put on one of Ronald's favourite films, turning the volume up to provide a distraction. I pulled him onto my lap so he was straddling me, making him lean against my chest.  
"The storm seems to be dying down now" I said, rubbing his back.  
His cries of fear were quieter now. I kissed the top of his head. The storm had near enough stopped when all of a sudden, more thunder crashed, (and Ronald shrieked), and it started up again.

Not knowing what else to do, I started trailing kisses over his neck. Unintentionally, I bit him every time he jumped in fear from the thunder. His whimpering's could have been from fear or pleasure – I couldn't really tell. He calmed considerably from my touch. It was difficult, seeing him so scared, but it felt good knowing that I could offer even the slightest bit of comfort.

Eventually the storm died down and after a while, Ronald relaxed in my arms. I continued to kiss up his neck till I reached his mouth.  
"You should have told me"  
"I couldn't: I thought you'd laugh at me" he whispered.  
"Your fears are nothing to laugh about. I hate to think that you've been cowering in fear and crying during storms while I have been sat reading and taking no notice"  
"Well I didn't want to bother you. I usually have my headphones so I can't hear…" he wrapped his arms around my neck. "I'm glad you stayed. I would have panicked so much finding my headphones broken. You helped me…"  
I nuzzled his neck, holding his tight. I knew his secret now. I daren't tell him there were daytime storms scheduled for the next two days. I planned to take him into my office when they started.


	5. Chapter 5 - Ronald

I found myself being unusually quiet in the office the next day. Of course I still had the usual banter with Eric and complied with Grell's demands for attention, but I was a lot quieter than usual, and consequently, the office was too. At about 10, Grell went out on the field and everything got quieter still.

One o clock rolled round before long, and there was suddenly a rumble of thunder. I gasped and jumped violently, falling off my seat. A few people laughed.  
"You scared of thunder, Knoxie boy?" McCopy grinned.  
I went to grin back and make a joke of it but more thunder sounded and I squeaked and curled up, starting to tremble.  
"Hey, wait! You _are _scared of thunder!"  
He laughed and I could feel everyone staring at me. It was quiet at that moment and I struggled to my feet, grabbing a stack of finished paperwork and porting down to General Affairs to escape.

It wasn't any better down there. I managed to turn in the papers before thunder sounded again. I couldn't keep a strong face in that situation. My knees were weak and before I knew It, I was on the floor, huddled up in fear.  
"Oi, what's up with Knox?"  
"Wait, Ronald! Are you ill?"  
"No – he's scared of the storm!"  
That's when the laughter started. Now the tears on my face were from hurt as well as fear. I wanted to run but I was too scared to move.  
"Oi! Ya leave 'im alone!"  
I glanced up, glimpsing Eric but squeaking and hiding my face again at the sound of more thunder, wishing I could just disappear. 


	6. Chapter 6 - Eric

I lifted Ronald into my arms, glaring at the bastards laughing at him.  
"I's alrigh' Ronnie mate. Le's ge' ya back up t' Inaza, kay?"  
He clung to me, trembling and crying; shrieking so that I nearly dropped him as lightning filled the sky and illuminated the room.  
"'s ok, nothin's gon 'urt ya"

He was a mess by the time we got back to Inaza. A lot of people had seen him and caught on quickly as to why he was in that state and most weren't exactly nice about it. At least our office was a bit nicer about it. I set Ronald back in his desk chair and everyone tried to comfort him. He kept jumping and squeaking and crying as the storm raged outside, and we probably weren't helping.  
Somehow he ended up clinging to old Ian Brady, who, as far as I knew, had barely talked to him. I tried to put myself in Ronald's position but I couldn't for the life of me understand his fear.  
I looked over as he started coughing and was suddenly sick.  
"Lovely" Ian said grimly. "Spears is still at that meeting. Slingby, get him down to Matron"  
So I did.

She wouldn't let me stay with him. I kissed his cheek gently.  
"Ya gon be alrigh' mate"  
Thunder caused him to grab my hand with a shriek. Not wanting to yank my hand away, I kissed along his fingers till he let go.  
"See you later, mate"


	7. Chapter 7 - Ronald

Matron took me to her own private room and as soon as she set me down on the bed, I dived under the covers, holding the pillow over my head. I hadn't been this bad in a storm for so long, and I hated that now the entire dispatch knew I was scared of thunder. I felt sick, a hot sweat soaking my body and that same sickening tremble shaking my body. Matron pulled the pillow ad quilt away from me and took hold of m. I tried to struggle but I was in a state and she was a large, strong woman, so I didn't succeed. She sat me on her lap like a child and took off my blazer and tie, undoing a few of the buttons on my shirt.  
"There now, let's cool you down a little bit, shall we?" she said softly.  
Matron set me back down on the bed, keeping me on my back and taking my face in her hands. I cried, trying to push her away so I could hide. I hated her seeing me like this. Even though she knew so much about me, this was the one thing I had wanted to keep hidden from everyone. The storm was showing no signs of stopping. It had been about twenty minutes already and was still going strong, and it seemed worse now that I wasn't allowed to hide.  
"Ronald, breathe, darling"  
"I-I can't! I c-can't, I-I, I can't!"  
And I couldn't. Lightning was flashing rapidly outside the window, thunder was growling… I was trapped in a state of squeaking, shrieking and crying in fear.  
"Ronald, deep breaths, please. Come on, I know you can do it if you try"  
She started breathing for me and I tried to copy the way she was showing me. I struggled with it, stopping with a choked squeak at all sound and visible signs of the storm, but she encouraged me through it.  
"Good boy. Keep breathing now, that's it~"  
It didn't help much at all, but it gave me something to do, even though my focus was not very good.

Finally the storm finished, and I was still a shaking, crying mess. I sat up when Matron let me, drinking the water she offered me. I felt so tired, ill even. The glass slipped from my hand, thankfully not smashing due to the thick rug on the floor. I fell back against the pillows, quickly falling into a deep sleep.


	8. Chapter 8 - William

I was called down to Matrons room as soon as I finished in the meeting, and I knew straight away it was because of Ronald.  
Sure enough, when I went down there, Ronald was passed out on the bed. Matron explained everything to me and left the two of us together. I sat on the bed and woke Ronald up carefully. He looked at me with sad, bloodshot eyes.  
"Everyone knows…"  
"Yes. They all know" I said, stroking his hair gently. "They don't all care though"  
"Yes they do! They all laughed at me! You said they wouldn't, but they did, and it hurt..!"  
"I know they laughed, but most of them are taking no notice of the fact"  
He crawled over and hugged me. "I never meant for them to find out. I'm such an idiot"  
"You're not an idiot, Ronald. You are many things, but an idiot is not one of them" I said, rubbing his back. "Most people are scared of something. You just happen to be scared of storms. Alan is scared of heights, Matron is scared of spiders. Having fears does not make you an idiot"  
"It's different! Spiders are creepy and you can hurt yourself if you fall from somewhere high, so you can see why people are scared of them. What is there to be scared of in thunder? I don't understand it! I know it scared the fuck out of me but I don't understand! Why am I so scared of it!?"  
"Language, Ronald" I mumbled. "I don't know. Come now; let us take you home. You will come back to the bungalow tonight"


	9. Chapter 9 - Ronald

William was treating me like a child. I wanted to be back at home, with or without Will. The bungalow was usually welcoming, but not tonight.  
Will kept trying to get me to talk about what had happened earlier and when I kept refusing, he got angry. He lay down on the sofa and started to read. I crawled over and went to lay on top of him like usual but as soon as I tried, he pushed me away.  
"I'm busy, Ronald"  
"You're just reading. You don't usually mind" I said, trying again.  
He shoved me harder, knocking me over.  
"Will? Come on; I just want a hug"  
"I said, I'm busy"  
I knelt on the floor and went to take the book from him. As soon as my hand touched the spine, he clocked me round the head with it.  
"Ow!" I rubbed my head, sensing a familiar tingling in my nose. "What have I done?!"  
He didn't answer. The tingling in my nose got more intense, and despite myself, I started to cry. William sighed irritably.  
"Ronald, what?" he snapped.  
"Wh-what's gotten into you this evening!?"  
He rolled his eyes, going back to his book. I didn't understand what had happened. He hadn't touched me since the hug in Matron's room. I didn't see how he could possibly be angry at me. I hadn't done anything wrong. I cried properly for the first time in a long while. I sobbed bitterly, unable to stop myself.  
"W-Will..?"  
"If you're going to act like a child, go to bed"  
"I'm not..! I-I jus-jus-"  
"RONALD!"  
I jumped violently, going with the wise option and rushing to the spare room, slamming the door behind me. I flopped down on the bed, still crying, hating myself and trying to figure out what I'd done to make Will act like this.

I fell asleep for a few hours. It was nearly eleven when I woke up again. I got up slowly, stumbling out into the hallway – and bumping into William. I stepped back and for a moment we just looked at each other. He held an arm out to me. I hesitated and he grabbed hold of me, pulling me into a tight hug.  
"I'm sorry, Ronald. I shouldn't have taken out my frustration on you"  
Slowly, I rested my head against his chest, wrapping my arms round his waist. "It's ok…"  
"Come on; let's go to bed. You'll need someone there if there's another storm tonight"


	10. Chapter 10 - Ronald

Eric came up to me in the office the next morning.  
"You ok?"  
I nodded. "Thanks… Y'know, for yesterday"  
"'s a'ight. Could nay leave ma bes' mate" he grinned and me and I couldn't help but smile back. He stuck his tongue out at me and ruffled my hair like I was a little kid. "Bes' be getting' on wit' work now"

I kept my phone out on the desk, keeping an eye on the time. After a few hours, there was a sudden flash outside the window. I let out a little squeak of terror and suddenly there was a set of headphones on my head, someone's hands plugging them into my phone, opening my music library and setting an album playing. The music through the headphones drowned out all sound of the storm and I looked up to see McCopy beside me. I went to thank him but he returned to his desk quickly. Someone shut the blinds to block out the lightning. I was close to tears from their compassion. I saw there was a note attached to the wires of the headphones.

_Knoxie.  
Sorry I laughed at you yesterday. When I realised just how terrified you were, I felt pretty terrible about the way I had treated you in the situation. Anyway, I know storms aren't usually all that common, but there are some expected soon, so I went and got these for you. They're good quality – I tried them first to make sure. Just use them when there's a storm. Maybe it'll help. – McCopy _

I smiled happily, standing up and going over to hug him. He was a little surprised but he smiled anyway.


	11. Chapter 11 - Ronald

The storm soon passed. I'd near enough forgotten about it as a result of the headphones, only realising it was over when someone opened the blinds. I turned down the volume of the headphones, keeping them on as I worked.

After a while I switched off my music, pushing the headphones down so they hung round my neck. I unplugged them, shoving my phone into my pocket.  
"Ya a'ight, Ronnie?" Eric asked.  
I nodded. "Yeah. Jus' gonna go get a drink"

It was pretty quiet out in the hallway. All of a sudden, someone had hold of me by the collar.  
"H-hey, what're you doing?!"  
"Good day, Knoxie" He grinned.  
"Newnham?! What are you playing at!? You scared me half to death!"  
He laughed darkly. I narrowed my eyes at him. I'd never liked him much. Well, he was from Minting office, and they had a bad reputation. Their supervisor was a nice enough bloke, but he was in meetings about 95% of the time so his office was out of control. They were all a bad lot.  
"What do you want, Newnham?"  
Someone else grabbed hold of me, the black badge on their blazer lapel identifying them as another Minting bloke.  
"Little Ronnie Inaza. We've got something for you"  
I looked at him quizzically, and was suddenly shoved roughly into Minting office and pinned down on a desk. I grunted, trying to struggle, but they were all heavily build and a fair deal stronger than I was.  
"Let go of me! I need to get back to Inaza!"  
"Since when have _you _cared about work?"  
I had about five of them holding me down, the others being out on the field and Newnham stood by.  
"What are you doing? What's the point of this?"  
"We just want to have a little fun"  
Worst case scenarios entered my mind, images of what people tried to do to me on drunken nights. Newnham snapped a pair of headphones over my eyes, the wire plugged into his phone. Someone held my head still, hands over the headphones. I looked at them in confusion. Just what were they up to? There was a low rumbling coming through the headphones. I froze, and that's when it started properly, the sound of violent thunder filling my head. I couldn't help showing my fear, but someone clamped their hand down over my mouth to stop me screaming. I was still jumping, trying to get the headphones off. They turned the volume up, and though I couldn't hear it, I could see them laughing at me. I could barely move, barely breathe. I was terrible in real storms, and they seemed to have figured that I was nearly as bad with just the sound of a storm – I could even get scared at storms in films. I whimpered and started crying a little, pathetically. I willed Eric to walk in and get me like he had done the day before. I wanted to be back at Inaza office, and I wanted Will. I wanted him more than anything.


	12. Chapter 12 - Ronald

It was nearly worse than a real storm: I couldn't run and hide from this one. I kept biting at the hand over my mouth, both for some sort of personal comfort and in an attempt to get him to let go. He was tougher than you'd think, still keeping his hand in place when his blood was dribbling into my mouth. I couldn't understand how they could take pleasure from this. I would have thought the novelty would wear off after a while, but it hadn't. I was in a state, trembling and sweating, tears dripping from the corner of my eyes. All sense of time had left me in my fear. It was pathetic on their part, yet they succeeded in scaring me.

Why hadn't anyone from Inaza come seeking me out yet? I was being held down on an office desk, scared nearly to death from a simple bloody recording. I felt sick, both from the horrible storm soundtrack and the blood in my mouth. I bit harder still at the man's hand. I didn't know what to do. He twitched a bit and more blood filled my mouth. I gagged and choked, earning myself a few seconds of freedom to empty my mouth.  
"FUCKIN' HELL; JUST STOP!"  
The door opened at that moment. I knew that man: the supervisor of Minting. I could see him shouting and as soon as I was released, I threw up violently, sick and blood from the other reaper dripping down my chin. I yanked the headphones off, throwing them aimlessly.  
"What the hell do you lot think you're doing!?"  
"Uh, Mr Curver, we were-"  
Mr Curver grabbed the phone from the discarded headphones, his confused, worried expression changing to one of anger. I was dizzy and lightheaded and could barely comprehend the words he screamed at everyone in his office. Before I knew what was happening, I was in his arms.  
"Alright Knoxie-boy: let's get you back to Inaza"


	13. Chapter 13 - William

There was an unfamiliar knock at my office door.  
"Come in"  
Mr Curver of Minting office entered, a tearful, trembling blond in his arms. I stared for a moment and stood up, shutting the office door.  
"What happened?"  
"Well, it's a little difficult to explain. Shall we set him down first?"  
"Yes, yes, of course" I said, taking Ronald and helping him down onto the sofa. I held him at arm's length, mopping the blood and sick from his face. When I had done so, he clung to me, burying his face in my chest.  
"They weren't all that nice to him" Curver said. "Nasty bastards… The blood isn't his"  
"I gathered… Hm? Not his?" I said grimly. "Ronald, calm down. Breathe"  
He was panicking, gripping my arms. Curver stepped closer, looking at me for permission before taking the blanket from the back of the sofa and tucking it round Ronald.  
"There… Maybe you should sleep" he suggested.  
"Those sick bastards… What the bloody hell is wrong with them!?" Ronald suddenly shouted, starting to cry a little.  
"Ronald, please. It's alright. Calm down"

He went to sleep eventually. I gestured to Curver to take a seat and returned to my desk, and he sat across from me.  
"What exactly happened?" I asked.  
"They were playing with his fear" Curver said.  
"Playing with his fear?"  
He nodded. "I think Newnham was the mastermind. They had him pinned down with headphones on playing a long storm soundtrack or something like that"  
I groaned silently. "Charlie, everyone is your office needs help"  
"I've thought the first thing since day one. It was quite a nasty sight. I thought they'd hurt him physically when I saw the blood, but he had been biting down on someone's hand, I believe"  
I looked over at Ronald, who was curled up, whimpering softly in his sleep.  
"He means a lot to you, doesn't he?"  
I looked back at Charlie. "He is part of Inaza. I worry about and look out for everyone in my office. For now, I would like to have a word with everyone in _your _office"


	14. Chapter 14 - Charlie Curver

I'd never seen the men in my office look so terrified. Being such a busy man with meetings, I never had managed to achieve any level of control over Minting. William had such strict authority within the space of about thirty seconds. It was quite mesmerising to watch, yet nasty.  
"Who was behind this?!" William demanded.  
As I had expected, Newnham stepped forwards.  
"How dare you? Setting about to traumatise a fellow reaper that way! Why you ever thought that an appropriate way to treat anyone, I honestly don't know. It's outrageous! My feelings towards this are only heightened by the fact you did this to someone under my supervision" William shouted, his cold glare boring into Newnham. "Everyone in this room will be on unpaid overtime for the next month. You will all be required to write a formal letter of apology to Mr Knox. Furthermore, Mr Newnham, you are in threat of demotion for cruel and degrading treatment towards another reaper. Now get back to work!"  
Surprisingly, they did. I turned to William.  
"I'm dreadfully sorry" I said.  
"It was not your fault, Charlie. Though if you don't mind me saying, perhaps this office is in need of a strict assistance supervisor for when you're not here" he suggested.  
"I'll consider it. Minting is rather out of control. I know your lads in Inaza can be a handful, and they can be rowdy, but they're not the sort to intentionally cause harm.  
"No, they're all good at heart. I keep them on a short leash. Mostly, they daren't step out of line"  
"I wouldn't either if you were my supervisor" I said.  
"They can be difficult, but I've learnt their ways. They show me respect and I show them respect in return"  
"You're an admirable supervisor. You should be getting back to Ronald now.


	15. Chapter 15 - William

I shook Ronald awake when I returned to the office.  
"How ever did you get yourself into that mess?"  
His sleepy, confused expression was quickly replaced with one of rage.  
"I didn't 'get myself into' anything!" he shouted, struggling to sit up. "He just grabbed me and they held me down! I know it sounds pathetic, but they made me scared. Don't go making out this was my fault!"  
"Calm down, Ronald. I never said this was your fault"  
"That's what you made it sound like!"  
I sighed and sat down beside him. "Now, now, Ronald. Try to calm down"  
"Oh don't you go patronising me!" he hissed, slapping my hand away when I went to touch him.  
"Ronald, you're being silly now" I said.  
"I'm not being silly! You don't understand. I don't even _care_! You're the one making a big thing out of it!"  
I sighed deeply, counting to ten in my head to calm myself down.  
"Ronald. Would you like something to drink?"  
"What?"  
I went over to the little fridge and took out a glass bottle of coke and handed it to him, taking a bottle of ginger beer for myself.  
"Thanks…" he bit the cap off his bottle and took a mouthful. "I feel like such an idiot"  
"I understand why you feel like that. Minting were just playing a hurtful prank on you. That's not your fault: you didn't choose to be scared"


	16. Chapter 16 - Ronald

I felt fine after having a bit of a rant and something to drink. I'd been shaken up a bit and though I was fine afterwards, William still seemed worried about me. I played with this for all I was worth, and he let me stay in his office with a tray to lean on so I could get on with paperwork. It was a lot easier to work whilst lounging on a comfy sofa with a blanket round my shoulders and a bottle of coke beside me.  
"Will?"  
He looked over at me. "Yes, Ronald?"  
"Can I still come back with you tonight?" I asked.  
"I don't see why not"  
I moved my work stuff aside and went over to him, climbing onto his lap. I expected him to sigh and push me away but he put his pen down and hugged me hard.  
"There now, Ronnie. I know they gave you a bit of a shock earlier"  
I opened my mouth to argue, but his tone was soft and calming and I just relaxed against him instead.  
"Love you, Will"  
He took my face in his hands and kissed me gently.  
"I love you too, Ronald"


End file.
